Children are most likely to directly benefit from Australian charities, according to data collected by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). Data from charities that have already submitted their 2013 Annual Information Statements to the ACNC show that children are the most nominated beneficiaries of charities, followed by the general community, youth, women and aged persons.

The chief executive of the Adelaide Festival has defended the organisation’s choice to screen a controversial art-house film with explicit content, and says she does not consider the film pornographic. The near-six-hour film, River of Fundament, premiered in New York this month and will be screened for the first time in Australia at the Adelaide Festival. The film, by New York artist Matthew Barney, has been labelled a “torrent of filth” in an article by The Australian , published today.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell’s planned mandatory minimum sentences for alcohol-related violence have been criticised for handing police “enormous” power to press assault charges requiring two to five years in jail, based simply on a person’s appearance of intoxication.

Last week, The Times featured the heart-warming story of Deryn Blackwell, a 14 year-old boy who having been told he would likely die within a short time is now, against the odds, making a remarkable recovery. After the last of four bone marrow transplants in his treatment for a rare form of cancer, Deryn's parents were told that he was unlikely to survive beyond 50 days.

One third of young gay men have never been tested for HIV or other sexually transmitted infections despite the fact that they are increasingly likely to have unprotected sex with casual partners. Health professionals have raised concerns about the 65 per cent increase in the number of men aged 18-24 newly diagnosed with HIV in NSW between 2009-12.

The crackdown on truancy in 40 Aboriginal communities has revealed mixed early results, with attendance levels up 14 per cent from last year’s term-one average, but some schools going backwards despite intensive efforts to get kids into classrooms.

A coalition of international diplomats and bankers will meet over a political and humanitarian crisis looming in Lebanon as it struggles with spillover from the war in neighboring Syria, a senior U.S. official said, according to the Associated Press.

The violent clashes on Manus Island that left an Iranian asylum seeker dead happened after local G4S staff descended on protesting asylum-seekers, a preliminary police report has found. A Papua New Guinean police spokesman has told Fairfax Media that 23-year-old Reza Barati was killed by multiple blows to the head, probably from a piece of timber.

Pope Francis has announced the biggest shake-up in Vatican administration for years by creating a new Secretariat for the Economy which will have oversight of all economic and administrative activities within the Holy See and the Vatican City State. The changes have been made by means of a motu propio - meaning, on the Pope's own initiative.